Regional Round-Up
Qantas digs deep for new business
May 1st 2012
Australia’s gigantic mining boom has proved a boon for struggling Qantas Airways as demand for charter flights to remote work sites grows. Read More »
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| Qantas Airways: ordered 10 new Fokkers to service Fly In, Fly Out market |
The head of Qantas’s regional and FIFO (Fly In, Fly Out) division, Narendra Kumar, won the US$30 million Fortesecue Minerals contract from Skywest, which is based in Perth, the city at the centre of the West Australian mining behemoth.
Qantas entered the FIFO market in late 2010 after it bought charter operator, Network Aviation, when it announced plans to develop it into a US$150 million a year business. Kumar has ordered 10 new Fokker 100 aircraft to service demand, with four of the planes in service this month. The remaining six airplanes are due for delivery to the subsidiary by year end.
The Australian mining workforce is expected to increase from 200,000 to 300,000 by 2014 as the number of large projects operated by global mining companies such as BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto come on line in Western Australia and Queensland.
Traditionally, large sections of the workforce spend two weeks at the site and two weeks at their home base, usually in major capital cities. “We will open and operate out of any base we need to in any part of Australia to deliver capacity for clients,” said Kumar.
